‘X Factor’ audience claim they were told only to use torches during one finalist’s performance

After Louisa Johnson was crowned winner, the validity of her victory has been called into question

The X Factor is facing further criticism this morning after members of the audience at last night’s live final claimed that they were told only to light torches during one finalist’s performance of the winner’s single.

Both Essex-born singer Louisa Johnson and Ghanaian duo Reggie ‘N’ Bollie delivered renditions of this year’s winner’s single, a cover of Bob Dylan’s ‘Forever Young’, before Johnson was crowned winner of the show’s 12th series. However, several X Factor fans who attended yesterday’s live final at The SSE Arena, Wembley claimed on Twitter that they were instructed to greet the two performances differently.

We were all given torches at the beginning, but were told to use them for Louisa's performance..

The audience members’ claims have led to suggestions that The X Factor was trying to sway voters towards Johnson, or even that the final’s result was some kind of “fix”. Meanwhile, many others viewers including Jess Glynne – who appeared twice as a guest on this year’s series – suggested that the choice of winner’s single had already given Johnson an unfair advantage over Reggie ‘N’ Bollie.

But how can you give them the same song? That's not fair.. 2 completely different artists! Hear me… 😏

After last night’s result was announced, ITV revealed that Johnson received 53.9% of the final vote compared to Reggie ‘N’ Bollie’s 38.9%. Third place act Ché Chesterman had earned 7.2% of the vote before he was eliminated on Saturday night.

After being made available for download last night, Johnson’s winner’s single has already climbed to Number One on the UK iTunes chart.